Mating Leaf Footed Bugs

Orgy in the Cow-Peas My boyfriend and I discovered scads of these bugs (after searching your website I think I’ve identified them as some kind of leaf-footed bug) all over our cow-peas a few weeks ago. They stayed there for at least several days, seemingly engaged in a giant orgy. They appear to have made dark spots all over our cow-pea pods. Is it possible that they layed eggs in the pods or the peas themselves? Best, Allison San Diego CA

Hi Allison, These are mating Leaf Footed Bugs in the genus Leptoglossus, but they don’t seem to exactly match the species depicted on BugGuide. We suspect the black marks on the cow-pea pods are the result of the insects feeding. They have piercing and sucking mouthparts, and inject enzymes into the seeds and fruits of the plants they feed upon.